We knew there was a reason we were so attracted to the pretty Pininfarina-designed Alfa-Romeo roadster concept revealed at this month's Geneva Auto Show. And we knew it certainly had nothing whatsoever to do with the Alfa's name, the 2uettottanta.
Possibly, it had something to do with the stunning women who are invariably hired by Italian design houses to stand disinterested next to a concept car. We also can reveal that there lurks among us a shameless Pininfarina lackey.
But there's something about the tapered nose of that Alfa...something in the sharp-edged fender tops.... Now we know. It reminds us of the 15-year-old Honda SSM concept vehicle that became the S2000. The SSM was designed by -- wait for it -- Pininfarina.
Are we crazy or has Pininfarina gone into the recycling business?
throwback says:
11:57 AM, 03/15/10
Nothing wrong with cribbing your own designs.
flicmod says:
12:25 PM, 03/15/10
The connection is amazing, but I don't think they deserve to get knocked. Successful art and design is timeless. Replicating the body lines for the Alfa is certainly acceptable to me.
bankerdanny says:
12:29 PM, 03/15/10
Wow, they really are the same car aren't they, right down to the slightly recessed hood.
huyracing says:
05:15 PM, 03/15/10
its like every aston martin or porsche 911... all they do is rip off their own design and make slight changes. lol. it doesn't bother me...
cruiserhead1 says:
07:18 AM, 03/16/10
very similar in photos! Good catch. No doubt they copied themselves.
However, they are different proportionally. If you look at more photos, the Alfa is much better, I think. I'm willing to bet they give a very different impression once viewed in real life.
hollowtek says:
08:56 AM, 03/16/10
oh well. just another case of designer's block.
desmolicious says:
01:10 PM, 03/16/10
The Pinin designed Lexus GS was originally meant to be the 'next' Jaguar...
So this has been done before.
estreka says:
01:30 PM, 03/16/10
The S2000 lives on!
If we apply a swath of reasonableness to this concept and move the headlights up like Honda did, you get a very good idea of how this Alfa will look.
It's no coincidence that I went from an Alfa Veloce spider to an S2000. :-)
mtrent says:
02:25 AM, 04/ 8/10
Yeah, definitely see the resemblence. I think the Alfa's the better looking out of the two but that's just me. I think it's true that there's no such thing as real originality any more, there's always going to be resemblence between different car models.